Verse Portraits

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq of Prince
Edward Island.

In Verse Portraits, Philip Stratford adopts an autobiographical stance
to portray aspects of the life stories of three great French painters:
Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse. In these confessional
poems, we experience their trials, disappointments, frustrations, and
triumphs. They share with us aspects of their creative techniques and
vision. “I do not paint what is / what I paint is,” states Monet,
while Cézanne suggests that “[t]he painter does not create / as much
as reflect.” From Matisse we learn that “Harmony ... / is all.”
Stratford’s gift for aphoristic brevity is especially apparent when he
glides into French. An in-depth knowledge of the three painters’ works
would deepen one’s appreciation of Stratford’s perceptive
commentary. The admirable cover art is by Philip Webb.